ASK A HISTORIAN

'50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know' is the sub-title of this book by the author who is the host of the BBC podcast 'You're Dead to Me'. Every page contains a delight: How do we know how people sounded in the past? Why is Italy called Italy? Who invented maths? How fast was the medieval Chinese postal system? How old is curry? Did Anne Boleyn have three nipples? Is it true that a dead pope was put on trial? When was the first Monday? What did The Flintstones get right about the Stone Age? Ask a historian, who here responds to 50 genuine questions from the general public and takes us on an entertaining tour through history from the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties with facts and characters and stories from the past, from ancient joke books, African empires and the invention of meringues to mummies, menstrual pads and mirrors. 332pp, paperback.